Research Summary

Dr. Mi-Ok Kim has joined the HDFCCC as Director of the Biostatistics Core. The Core is responsible for providing support for protocol development, review and analysis for clinical studies, and statistical expertise for research collaborations with Cancer Center investigators in all disciplines across the spectrum of basic, clinical and population sciences. Dr. Kim will lead the Core and work directly with Cancer Center leadership on developing and implementing a strategic and integrated shared resource plan.

Dr. Kim joins us from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, OH, where she directed the Biostatistics Unit for the Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute. Notable collaborations included Children's Tumor Foundation’s Neurofibromatosis (NF) Therapeutic Consortium that builds up a preclinical pipeline for screening candidate drug therapies in animal model systems. Dr. Kim also developed a research program in novel clinical trial designs that incorporate biomarker information and aim to optimize patient benefits. With the expertise in the trial design she served on the faculty for the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) sponsored 2015 Methods in Cancer Biostatistics Workshop.

Dr. Kim will also join the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics as Professor of Biostatistics, continuing academic contributions to the field of biostatistics and providing biostatistical support broadly on campus. Trained as a mathematical statistician, Dr. Kim is an independent statistical method researcher with research interest in non- and semi-parametric statistics, and longitudinal and survival data analysis. She has been supported by NIH and National Science Foundation (NSF) awards, and published in prestigious journals such as the Annals of Statistics and the Journal of the American Statistical Association. Her recent research focuses on causal inference using structured data for comparative effectiveness research (CER) and patient-centered outcome research (PCOR). Registries, network databases and Electronic Health Record (EHR) often impose a hierarchical structure where subjects or patients are clustered, for example, by geographical area of residence, health care provider or health plan. The data structure is often associated with unmeasured characteristics of individuals or health care providers. Supported by the Patient-Centered Outcome Research Institute (PCORI), Dr. Kim and her research team study optimal handling of the complex data structure both in the treatment selection decision process and the outcome analysis in order to minimize bias and maximize efficiency of the causal inference. Application studies of the project include pediatric Crohn’s disease (CD) and kidney transplant study.

Research Funding

  • November 1, 2021 - October 31, 2024 - Mixed Data Meta-analysis: Integration of Individual Participant and Aggregate Data , PI . Sponsor: PCORI, Sponsor Award ID: ME-2020C3-21269
  • August 5, 1999 - May 31, 2023 - Cancer Center Support Grant , Biostatistics and Population Research Shared Resource Director . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: P30CA082103
  • July 1, 2008 - December 31, 2018 - Risk Stratification & Identification of immunogenic and microbial markers of rapid disease progression in children with Crohn’s disease , Biostatistics Core Director . Sponsor: CCFA, Sponsor Award ID: Research Initiative Grant
  • January 1, 2015 - June 30, 2018 - Propensity Score-based Methods for CER Using Multilevel Data: What Works Best When , PI . Sponsor: PCORI, Sponsor Award ID: ME-1403-13922
  • August 1, 2014 - July 31, 2016 - Rigor of Multi-Registry CER Studies: Towards Patient-Centered Treatment Planning , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: K18HS022437
  • September 1, 2010 - August 31, 2013 - Collaborative Research: Extension of Quantile Regression and Empirical Likelihood Analysis for Censored Data , PI . Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF), Sponsor Award ID: DMS-1007535
  • July 1, 2009 - September 30, 2011 - Empirical Likelihood Bayes Analysis of Quantile Regression Model , Principal Investigator . Sponsor: NIH, Sponsor Award ID: R03CA133944
  • June 1, 2006 - May 31, 2009 - Empirical Likelihood Inference of Censored Quantile Regression , Co-Primary Investigator . Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF), Sponsor Award ID: DMS-0604920

Education

MS: Statistics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, 2000
PhD: Statistics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, 2003

Honors & Awards

  • 1997
    Fellowship,University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • 2001
    First Prize,Capital One Financial Data Challenge Competition
  • 2002
    Norton Prize, Robert Bohrer Workshop for Student Papers in Statistics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • 2004
    Junior Faculty Travel Award,International Conference on Robust Statistics (ICORS)
  • 2008
    Travel Award, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Cancer Biostatistics Workshop

Selected Publications

  1. Chen JY, Fernandez K, Fadadu RP, Reddy R, Kim MO, Tan J, Wei ML. Skin Cancer Diagnosis by Lesion, Physician, and Examination Type: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. JAMA Dermatol. 2025 Feb 01; 161(2):135-146.  View on PubMed
  2. Truong AA, Lee RH, Wu X, Algazi AP, Kang H, El-Sayed IH, George JR, Heaton CM, Ryan WR, Jeon Y, Kim MO, Ha PK, Wai KC. Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio and Pembrolizumab Outcomes in Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2025 Feb; 172(2):548-555.  View on PubMed
  3. Truong A, McKinley M, Gomez SL, Kim MO, Shariff-Marco S, Cheng I. The role of ethnic enclaves and neighborhood socioeconomic status in invasive breast cancer incidence rates among Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander females in California. Cancer Causes Control. 2025 Feb; 36(2):183-189.  View on PubMed
  4. Shehu D, Kim MO, Rosendo J, Krogan N, Morgan DO, Guglielmo BJ. Institutional Conversion to Energy-Efficient Ultra-Low Freezers Decreases Carbon Footprint and Reduces Energy Costs. Biopreserv Biobank. 2024 Sep 25.  View on PubMed
  5. Hyokyoung G. Hong. Barry I. Graubard. Joseph L. Gastwirth. Mi-Ok Kim. Quantile regression decomposition analysis of disparity research using complex survey data: Application to disparities in BMI and telomere length between U.S. minority and white population groups. Annals of Applied Statistics. 2024; 18(3):2012 - 2033.  View on PubMed
  6. Jean Feng, Adarsh Subbaswamy, Alexej Gossmann, Harvineet Singh, Berkman Sahiner, Mi-Ok Kim, Gene Anthony Pennello, Nicholas Petrick, Romain Pirracchio, Fan Xia. Designing monitoring strategies for deployed machine learning algorithms: navigating performativity through a causal lens. Conference on Causal Learning and Reasoning (CLeaR). 2024; 236:587-608.  View on PubMed
  7. Joo H, Nguyen K, Kolodzie K, Chen LL, Kim MO, Manuel S. Differences in Acute Postoperative Opioid Use by English Proficiency, Race, and Ethnicity After Total Knee and Hip Arthroplasty. Anesth Analg. 2025 Jan 01; 140(1):155-164.  View on PubMed
  8. Perrino MR, Ahmari N, Hall A, Jackson M, Na Y, Pundavela J, Szabo S, Woodruff TM, Dombi E, Kim MO, Köhl J, Wu J, Ratner N. C5aR plus MEK inhibition durably targets the tumor milieu and reveals tumor cell phagocytosis. Life Sci Alliance. 2024 May; 7(5).  View on PubMed
  9. Umashankar S, Li M, Blevins K, Kim MO, Majure M, Park J, Huppert LA, Melisko M, Rugo HS, Esserman L, Chien AJ. Characterizing attitudes related to future child-bearing in young women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2024 Apr; 204(3):509-520.  View on PubMed
  10. Flaherman VJ, Murungi J, Bale C, Dickinson S, Chen X, Namiiro F, Nankunda J, Pollack LM, Laleau V, Kim MO, Allison DB, Ginsburg AS, Braima de Sa A, Nankabirwa V. Breastfeeding and Once-Daily Small-Volume Formula Supplementation to Prevent Infant Growth Impairment. Pediatrics. 2024 Jan 01; 153(1).  View on PubMed
  11. Huang Y, Huang CY, Kim MO. Simultaneous selection and incorporation of consistent external aggregate information. Stat Med. 2023 12 30; 42(30):5630-5645.  View on PubMed
  12. Jin H, Kim MO, Scheffler A, Jiang F. Bayesian adaptive design for covariate-adaptive historical control information borrowing. Stat Med. 2023 12 20; 42(29):5338-5352.  View on PubMed
  13. Levinson AL, Tjoa K, Huang B, Meyer LK, Kim MO, Brady SW, Zhang J, Shannon K, Wandler AM. Opposing effects of KDM6A and JDP2 on glucocorticoid sensitivity in T-ALL. Blood Adv. 2023 07 25; 7(14):3479-3484.  View on PubMed
  14. Cooch PB, Kim MO, Swami N, Tamma PD, Tabbutt S, Steurer MA, Wattier RL. Broad- Versus Narrow-Spectrum Perioperative Antibiotics and Outcomes in Pediatric Congenital Heart Disease Surgery: Analysis of the Vizient Clinical Data Base. J Pediatric Infect Dis Soc. 2023 Apr 28; 12(4):205-213.  View on PubMed
  15. Conroy SM, Von Behren J, Kwan ML, Kushi LH, Kim MO, Iribarren C, Roh JM, Laurent CA, Thomsen C, Chu JN, Greenlee H, Gomez SL, Shariff-Marco S. Neighborhood attributes and cardiovascular disease risk in breast cancer survivors: The Pathways Study. Cancer. 2023 08 01; 129(15):2395-2408.  View on PubMed
  16. Jackson M, Ahmari N, Wu J, Rizvi TA, Fugate E, Kim MO, Dombi E, Arnhof H, Boehmelt G, Düchs MJ, Long CJ, Maier U, Trapani F, Hofmann MH, Ratner N. Combining SOS1 and MEK Inhibitors in a Murine Model of Plexiform Neurofibroma Results in Tumor Shrinkage. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2023 05; 385(2):106-116.  View on PubMed
  17. Jean Feng, Adarsh Subbaswamy, Alexej Gossmann, Harvineet Singh, Berkman Sahiner, Mi-Ok Kim, Gene Pennello, Nicholas Petrick, Romain Pirracchio, and Fan Xia. Towards a Post-Market Monitoring Framework for Machine Learning-based Medical Devices: A case study. Workshop on Regulatable Machine Learning at the 37th Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems. 2023.  View on PubMed
  18. Kenfield SA, Philip EJ, Phillips SM, Meyerhardt JA, Chan JM, Atreya CE, Kim MO, Harris Q, Steiding P, Macaire G, McCullough ML, Piawah S, Johnson WY, Kurttila FA, Lewis WL, Pesmen C, Watson Y, Van Blarigan EL. Optimizing intervention tools to improve nutrition and physical activity for colorectal cancer survivors (Tools To Be Fit): Study protocol of a randomized factorial experiment. Contemp Clin Trials. 2022 12; 123:107009.  View on PubMed
  19. Borno HT, Kim MO, Tolstykh I, Lin A, Hong JC, Yousefi S, Zhang S, McKay RR, Harismendy O, Razavi P, Cinar P, Rugo H, Koshkin VS, Rabow M, Wang C, Bailey A, Small EJ. Assessing Unique Risk Factors for COVID-19 Complications Among Cancer Patients: A Multi-ethnic Cohort Study. J Immigr Minor Health. 2023 Jun; 25(3):624-633.  View on PubMed
  20. Huppert LA, Walker Z, Li M, Kim MO, Callan J, Brandman D, Majure M, Melisko ME, Rugo HS, Behr S, Chien AJ. Clinical characteristics and outcomes in patients with metastatic breast cancer and pseudocirrhosis: a single center retrospective cohort study. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2023 Jan; 197(1):137-148.  View on PubMed

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